I’ve worked in agencies — large ones, small ones, publicly held ones, my own — for almost three decades. While the marketing and communications industry has evolved exceptionally over that time, there is one thing that was as true in 1996 as it remains today: clients hire agencies to see what’s coming. The true value organizations require from agencies is the outside perspective and ideas they didn’t think of or can’t execute on their own. And yet, too many agencies don’t deliver on this one, very clear and universal expectation.
Why is that? We hear a variety of reasons from companies who come looking for new agencies. “Our previous agency waited for us to tell them what to do,” or “They focused more on upselling us than running the program we hired them for,” or “They put only junior, less experienced people on our business who didn’t know how to guide us strategically.” The agencies have become reactive and prescriptive and have lost sight of being a good partner.
In truth, all agencies — including INK — have experienced times when one of the above examples has applied to them too. No business is flawless in its execution every single day. But being aware of the end goal — strategic value to moving clients’ business forward — certainly helps agencies stay on the right path.
INK’s Be There Before™ Methodology
At INK, we hardcore believe it’s our job to proactively bring ideas and strategies to clients that will improve their business results. That’s not just a theoretical statement; it’s a goal with a plan in place to make it happen. We operate via a methodology we call Be There Before™. It’s a series of proven strategies across how we partner, how we create and execute integrated communications strategies, and how we analyze the effectiveness of our work. Be There Before™ keeps us in a proactive state and ensures our teams know how to make the magic happen, repeatedly. To help clients see what’s coming, we believe there’s always a better way — and we find it.
At a high level, here are the key elements of how we Be There Before™:
1. Partnership
We operate as an extension of our clients’ teams, fully immersing ourselves in your business and industry to align our efforts with your goals.
Collaborative Kick-Off. It’s important to be on the same page and build strong agency/client relationships from the start. INK is trained on a design think methodology called Think Wrong, which we love to employ in a kick-off meeting to help us ramp up quickly on the client’s key audiences, product and brand differentiators – and get everyone on the same page at the same time.
360° Program Approach. Planning fuels integrated programs which fuels analysis which fuels planning. We don’t set it and forget it; we evaluate and apply learnings quickly.
Marketing Alignment. Your agency team needs to understand not only what they own, but also where they plug in to your marketing process. We understand what communications needs to drive, influence, support, and account for.
Program Management. The key to securing quick wins while ensuring strategic alignment with the business is a solid base of program management. Does everyone know what to do, when, and why? At INK, we do.
2. Integrated Communications
As a full-service communications agency, we integrate public relations, corporate communications, content, digital, creative, brand strategy, and research to drive results that matter for our clients.
Message Development. Step one, know your audiences. Steps two through five: analyze the market, analyze the competition, interview stakeholders, hold a messaging workshop, create a messaging platform.
Thought Leadership. Every element of a communications program can be supported and elevated with thought leadership. We ensure we’re offering something unique, personal, with clear intent — informing, influencing, or inspiring — and then package and share in a multitude of ways.
Brand Awareness. Brand awareness encompasses the entire PESO (paid, earned, shared, owned) media spectrum. No longer is one communications strategy enough — INK incorporates strategies from all areas, creating integrated programs to get clients in front of priority audiences.
Proactive Media Relations. Our media relations approach — be personal, be smart, be fast — produces high impact, consistent results that feed the entire integrated communications program. We created a proprietary conversation monitoring report called The BTB (e.g. energy, insurtech) that gives us insight into what topics are trending across all channels and fuels our ability to be proactive.
Spokesperson Training. We’ll bring the interview opportunities, but spokespeople must deliver the goods. Our spokesperson training program helps executives and subject matter experts understand how to get quoted through message delivery and soundbite creation.
Employer Branding. In the industries we service, recruiting and retaining great talent is always top of mind. Our employer branding program helps companies ID how they would like to be perceived as an employer and manage how they deliver on that promise.
3. Analysis
Measuring and analyzing our work shows the value communications delivers to the business and informs program strategy.
Alignment. Measuring and analyzing our work shows the value communications delivers to the business and informs program strategy. When deciding what metrics and outcomes to evaluate, we consider company goal alignment and quality over quantity. We also take into account our measurement audience by identifying executive-level KPIs, monthly metrics for marketing leads, and daily informers that feed the program. We apply honest assessment to results and look for opportunities to optimize efforts.
Media Quality Footprint. INK’s Media Quality Footprint shows the quality of each article against the quality of the outlet in which it appears. It’s a tangible way to show how media coverage creates value for the company – and that not all coverage is created equal.
Moving Your Business Forward
At INK, we’re constantly applying lessons learned as we go (evolving is in our DNA and a core value), so I would expect to see our Be There Before™ methodology expand. At its core though, it will remain true to this: Clients want agencies to see around corners for them. Be There Before™ is INK’s roadmap for doing just that.
